Abandon the Lion
by dragonfliesaregreen
Summary: Rufus Scrimgeour is alive and walking around the Ministry again. Hermione Granger tries to solve the mystery of why he really came back, with a little help along the way.
1. One

******Abandon the Lion**

******Credit to J.K. Rowling for the creation of an amazing world of characters! But this plot is my own.**

******Chapter 1**

"Good morning, Miss Granger! Would you like to go by Miss or Ms. Granger on your official document seals?" Hermione heard the Ministry secretary ask when she walked into the Atrium.

"Ms. Granger please. Thank you." Hermione responded with a small smile. She was still nervous after a week of working at her new job at the Ministry of Magic. It was Friday, and all of the details of her new official document seals and a name tag for her office needed to be finalized before the weekend.

"No problem, Ms. Granger. Have a wonderful day!"

"You, too." Hermione responded as she walked by the secretary's desk to wait in the lift area.

That secretary had much too much energy for this early in the morning in Hermione's opinion. In fact, every morning for the past week Hermione had thought this. She realized with a flutter in her heart and a small groan, that a normal life was finally in her grasp. Meaning she might have to stop being so grumpy in the mornings to do well at her job. Despite having a genuine passion and desire to do some good in the world, she firmly believed it was wrong to make anyone get up before nine in the morning to do any of this good.

Shaking her head to clear her mind of her small rant about early mornings and too cheerful people, she stepped into the lift. The door was closing when a man's arm, covered in a nice black suit, stopped the door from closing at the last minute. The lift door opened again automatically, and an out of breath Draco Malfoy quickly rushed in, standing a foot to the right of Hermione. They were the only ones in the elevator.

After five quick heartbeats, she realized she was shocked to see him, expecting him to have taken over the Malfoy family company after the long trial the previous year. The Ministry had allowed the Malfoy family to keep their assets, which came as a big shock to many in the Wizarding World. Hermione didn't yet know what to think of it herself. Though Malfoy working at the Ministry would explain why he had bothered going back to Hogwarts.

She sighed, analyzing his body language. The last time she had seen him was at the graduation ceremony a month ago. She sneaked a glance at him as the lift moved downward.

He looked like he had accidentally eaten a lemon for breakfast. Shocking. Malfoy being uptight was nothing new. It was the same closed off face he had worn the entire year, not making any friends, just going aobut his business.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she decided against breaking the silence between them with a hello, wondering why she had been crazy enough to think he might just say "hello" back. Perhaps it was due to his lack of nasty comments towards her the past several months, or towards anyone really. However, she rationalized this may have been because he and his family wanted the trial to go well so they could be free of charges and get their money back. Yet, she always believed in the good in people, even in Malfoy. Was it not she who told Harry it was not really likely Malfoy would become a Death Eater? Why had she given him the benefit of the doubt so easily then, and then again now? Hermione believed Harry that Malfoy would never have been able to kill Dumbledore that night on the Astronomy Tower.

When she opened her eyes again the lift door was opening, and both of them stood there, waiting for the other to step out. After a few heartbeats she realized she didn't want to wait and see if Malfoy would offer for her to go first. She didn't look at him or see if he got out, and strode directly to her office door, seeing the new sign on the door already toting a "Ms. Granger" name plaque. Sitting down in her chair with a huff, she let out a deep breath and wondered why that interaction between them had been so incredibly tense. It wasn't like she hadn't seen Malfoy almost every day for the past year at Hogwarts. She resolved her thoughts by stating it was once again too early in the morning to worry about her behavior with Malfoy in an elevator.

Pulling her chair into her desk to begin research on the magical qualities of birch wood, she forgot all about Malfoy that day, and did not see him again for another week.

* * *

Rufus Scrimgeour was so confused.

Why did a small voice in his mind insist on screaming at him every time he performed that particular spell? He was quite adept at performing the spell now without having any complications, after casting it nearly a hundred times on various Ministry employees. He didn't think what he was doing was wrong, so it certainly couldn't be hurting anyone.

As Junior Secretary to the Minister of Magic, Shacklebolt, he was able to come and go around the Ministry offices however he pleased. After several months, almost no one had noticed he had been practicing the spell on anyone at all. However, his range was becoming spread quite thin, and it only made the two voices in his head scream at each other more.

___It didn't used to be like this! __he_ thought, grabbing the sides of the sink tightly and then pulling at his hair to try and make the pain go away. Every time his small voice screamed, he also experienced a wave of pain that would bring him to the point of vomiting, before suddenly disappearing as the voice with the larger presence would say, "_That's enough."_

He was staring at himself in a mirror in the men's room on the sixth floor, in the Department of Misuse of Magic. He had just finished completing the spell on the head of the department, and had had to run in the bathroom to avoid vomiting all over the floor after his small voice had screamed at him. He couldn't help but feel like this job was too difficult for one man, yet he couldn't remember a time not having this mission. It drove him relentlessly, never allowing for a spare thought for that small voice to make him rethink his decisions. Sometimes he missed that small voice, like it was an old friend, but he would never admit it to himself. Most of the time he just thought he was going insane. Or that he already might be.

He was so confused.

Turning on the cold tap, he cupped some water in his two palms and covered his face with it, not really getting any relief from the confusion, but feeling less like vomiting. He turned the tap off and wiped his face, quickly exiting the room after someone else walked in. He made his way to his office, seeing Hermione Granger, the newest addition to the Department of Mysteries staff, getting into the lift at the Atrium as he was getting out.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Granger. Congratulations on your new job," he said to her before she walked past him to walk into the same lift. He grabbed her hand somewhat aggressively and shook it automatically before she had even fully registered who was standing before her.

"Thank you," she replied. The situation made her very uncomfortable, if not for his jumpy behavior, then for the fact that his eyes were creeping her out. There was nothing physically distinguishable about them, but they seemed to Hermione to exude an overly intense, scrutinizing gaze. She quickly took her hand out of his grip and dismissively waved goodbye, already walking away, "I'm sorry I can't talk longer but I've got a lot to work on today."

"Quite alright, have a good afternoon then," he said, politely smiling. His eyes followed her even as her back was turned to him, and he was still watching when she turned back around as the elevator doors were closing. He saw her cringe when they made eye contact once more.

As he was walking to his office, he wondered how soon he would be able to practice the spell on her, but she seemed suspicious of him. Perhaps he had been too attentive and made her afraid, that would explain her cringing in the elevator. Reaching his door and looking to the secretary, he remembered the way she, Potter, and Weasley had always seemed to distrust him, and sniffed disapprovingly. He was only trying to help them then, and again now. He told the secretary to record Hermione's daily schedule for him, then burrowed into his office, slamming the door shut as the small voice screaming in his mind caused him to lose control once again.


	2. Two

**A/N: Totally wish I'd thought of Harry Potter and become a billionaire but JK Rowling beat me to it. In another life I suppose. :)**

**Song inspiration for this story:**

**Aqualung-Strange and Beautiful **

watch?v=WYgBoJRi9uk

**Two.**

In the elevator, Hermione's mind was sprinting after bumping into Scrimgeour for the first time since she'd been hired. Something about him made her feel disoriented. When he had been Minister of Magic, she had always had a sense of foreboding when interacting with him, even though they were on the same side, but it hadn't changed when she interacted with him now.

Hermione had been wary of him ever since his 'return' which had been all over the papers while she was back at Hogwarts. Scrimgeour's story claimed he hadn't really been killed, but captured by Death Eaters and left there until the war ended, whereupon Scrimgeour emerged with memory loss and Apparated straight to the Ministry. Voldemort apparently had forgotten about Scrimgeour. Right. But she was honestly too frightened to investigate this alone. Perhaps when Harry and Ron returned. She had many questions to ask this man who now so resembled a haggard lion.

Why would Voldemort spare Scrimgeour when he had spared no one else? Why did Scrimgeour return to the Ministry six months after the war had ended? What was he doing for six months after the war ended? Why was it that she felt so disturbed about the entire thing?

And why was no one else suspicious? Scrimgeour had simply been returned to a position in the Ministry, as Junior Minister. Hermione had still been at Hogwarts when it had happened in real time, but her new job placed her in the proximity of said old lion and the unknown was beginning to haunt her.

It didn't help that Harry and Ron weren't around to discuss it either.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had been offered positions as Aurors yet only Harry and Ron had taken them. While Hermione completed her seventh year at Hogwarts, they had gone on a mission to eliminate all remaining cells of Death Eaters around the country. Hermione's love of knowledge led her to a research project for the Department of Mysteries, where she was still setting up her new office.

It so happened that her would-be office mate, Barclay Cornett, was also on this mission, along with several other members from different departments.

Sitting in her office chair, she tried to make herself focus on her work. She had been working at the Ministry now for close to two weeks. It was Friday again, and Harry, Ron, and Barclay were still gone without any contact. Being alone on a Friday in her office again, she had eaten lunch at the Leaky Cauldron.

As Hermione looked apathetically at her notes from a study on the renewal properties of birch wood, there was suddenly a knock on her office door.

"Come in." Hermione said, surprised.

"Hello MIZ Granger!" It was the secretary, who was smiling wildly. She had pronounced the Ms in Hermione's title especially because Hermione had requested it last week. Why this woman was treating her like she was a child, she didn't know.

The secretary started speaking again, but not before releasing a strange giggle and saying, "Did I just see you come back from lunch alone again? I could always join you if you need some help adjusting here. I just want you to know you can come to me if you're having any problems adjusting." She ended her offer with wide eyes and a strange smile, nodding her head .

"Um—sorry, but...I think I'll be fine." Hermione thought this conversation was completely bizarre and had no idea what to say. This woman was either president of the welcoming committee or she was extremely nosy. She spoke again, trying to be more polite in case it was the former, "Thank you so much for the offer, though! Really, I just—uh—I don't even know what to say. That's very kind of you to offer, I appreciate it."

"Oh, nothing to worry about, dear! I'm not offended, I just wanted to make sure you felt welcome at the Ministry! I know there are a lot of old bludgeons here, and some of the newer, younger folks can be a little—off, especially lately! If you know what I mean?" The secretary smiled again as if she knew something no one else did, but Hermione decided she just seemed very much like her friend Luna Lovegood. She seemed harmless, if not a little "off" herself.

"I'm afraid maybe I don't know what you mean, but that's alright," Hermione relaxed, laughing, trying to not be suspicious. "Maybe I will take—" she began again before the secretary interrupted her.

"Perfect! Meet me at my desk on Monday when you want to take lunch!" the secretary enthusiastically squeaked, bouncing back out of Hermione's office with nothing more than a "Bye, dear!"

Hermione rubbed her temples. She didn't know if she'd be able to handle spending more than a few minutes with her, much less an entire lunch, but she had felt bad about suspecting someone who seemed so friendly. She resolved to try not to refer to the woman as "the secretary" anymore, in an effort to be nice. She was sure Ms. Cornett was a lovely individual, despite her squeaky voice, matching outfits, and constant smile. Hermione made a note to herself to ask for the rest of the secretary's name that wasn't shown on her desk plaque.

After going about getting said work done, she didn't look at the clock again until it was four hours later. Deciding to end her work there for the weekend, she put all her equipment and files away. On leaving the office she noticed she was one of the last ones to leave. She thought she might even be the last one there until she heard a door closing to her left, and none other than Draco Malfoy was closing his office door, getting ready to leave as well.

Her stomach clenched in nervousness, which she attributed to the mystery surrounding him.

She didn't want to admit how desperately curious she was to know what the war was like for him, what certain events meant from his perspective. She wanted to know why he hadn't given them away to Bellatrix in Malfoy Manor.

She so desperately needed answers. She had shared many strange looks with Malfoy at Hogwarts, not knowing what they meant.

His behavior in the last year seemed as though he was just trying to get through life, though she could never be sure. She barely knew him, if she knew anything about him at all, and trust did not come as easily to her these days. She didn't know if she had ever even seen a positive emotion on his face.

As they both started walking towards the lift area, he gave her a nod of acknowledgment, still with a cold distant look on his face.

They both reached the lift and they were standing next to each other again. There was another tense moment as they both waited for the other to lift their wand and call the lift that lasted about three seconds, but felt like much longer to her.

He finally called the lift, and Hermione told herself to stop being so nervous. The lift ride had never lasted longer.

___Should I say hello? Ask how he's doing? Ask him what he does at the Ministry?_

_Her thoughts swirled in her head, but she didn't say anything._

Finally, after what seemed like an hour to her, the lift door opened, and instead of going through another tense moment, Hermione just walked out first into the Atrium.

She was walking slightly ahead of him until she reached the Floo gate she was going to use. He took the one next to her. As she looked at him right before she walked into the green flames, he nodded again as a goodbye.

She didn't know how to react to this. Their...history...made her completely unsure of him, and unable to trust him. Yet she was so on edge when he was around, because she wasn't sure how to act around him anymore. This was an irritating revelation to her logical mind. She bit her bottom lip while she was thinking. Somehow she couldn't help but trust her instincts when they signaled to her that he really had changed. Just the fact that she hadn't heard the dirty M word from him in a year was a little bit of evidence, if nothing else. He had nodded like this in Hogwarts to her as acknowledgment a few times, but they had barely ever spoken unless it was to work together for class. She wondered if they ever would ever speak to each other like normal people. And she knew exactly why she wanted to. Hunger for knowledge was her driving force in life.

Her palms were sweaty as she twisted away in the Floo.

The next Monday came too fast for her liking. When she walked into the Atrium at eight in the morning, she was very tired. The secretary—Ms. Cornett—cheerily waved to her with a huge smile, as if she had been awake for a while. Hermione pondered the possibility that this girl woke up at four in the morning and had twelve Pepper-Up Potions before coming in to work. If so, Hermione would have to ask her for some.

Feeling guilty, Hermione went up to her with a small smile and said, "I'm sorry, I'm having lunch with you today and I don't even know your first name."

"It's Niva, as in, short for Genevieve. My parents were so into name meanings, but I think it's so...off! Don't you agree? Anyways, I am so excited for lunch with you today, Hermione. I'm glad we are on a first name basis now." Niva smiled, folding her hands on her desk and tilting her head to the side.

"I am too. For both. See you soon." Hermione said, wanting slightly to pat her on the head. Niva was very odd in her mannerisms, but it was slightly endearing.

Hermione was tired because she had been helping Ginny babysit Teddy all weekend since Harry and Ron were still gone. Hermione obviously offered to help with him, even though she had her own flat to finish setting up. Hermione loved spending her time with Ginny and Teddy, but taking care of a little boy and still getting used to her new schedule had made her exhausted.

When lunch time came around, Hermione was getting ready to meet Niva when she saw Malfoy coming out of his office at the same time again. Hermione froze in place, not knowing what to expect. Instead of nodding at her, Malfoy seemed to think for a second. He seemed to have made up his mind, taking the hand that had been holding his chin and brushing it through his short silvery-blonde hair. He came to stand right in front of her.

He had on black suit pants today with a gray vest over a white button down shirt. It actually suited him well, a fact which he was most likely very aware of.

Malfoy looked at her quietly for a few more seconds and stiffly said, "Hello again Granger." He held out his hand for her to shake it as if they'd never met before. To Hermione, it seemed as if they really had never met. Nothing about him was the same, except for his unfortunately dashing exterior. Unfortunate for her in the sense that she could realistically no longer deny the attractive quality of his aquiline nose and Baltic gray irises. She would never admit this to anyone, of course.

Hermione put out her hand for him to shake and said, "Hello Malfoy."

She was quite taken aback by his offer of touch. His grip was strong, and his hands were rather rough. She gave him a strong grip as well, not wanting him to think she was intimidated. When the corner of his mouth twitched in response to her strong grip, a spark of energy burst in her spine near her stomach. Was that curiosity or fear? She stuffed down her fear back into the black corner of her heart.

She reclaimed her hand, sliding it out of his first, acutely aware of every callous on his fingertips. She discreetly clenched both hands into fists to refocus. She was still suspicious, even if she was curious about his uncharacteristic breach of her personal space.

He looked up as she released her hand.

His gaze was very intense, making her feel stymied for words. She had never seen someone go so long without blinking, maybe his time spent with the Death Eaters made him still hyper vigilant. She really didn't know this man at all.

He began speaking as if he had heard her thoughts. "We work in the same department now, Granger. Just introducing myself to my coworker," he said calmly, though his strange stiff facial expression returned when he put his hands in his pockets.

"It seems we do." she said, not knowing what else to say. She again remembered she was on her way somewhere. "I suppose I'll be seeing you around then," she said, beginning to pull herself away.

"Right. See you," he said, taking his hands out of his pockets and walking somewhere else. His disgruntled expression deepened.

Hermione sighed. The entire past year at Hogwarts his behavior had been so different from the pointy faced ferret who was sometimes featured in her nightmares. Instead he had been quiet and non-confrontational. She had had a hard time adjusting to the new Malfoy in the beginning, expecting at least a few insults when they returned to Hogwarts, yet the logic was staring her in the face that he was not the same. Rather than feeling comforted by this, Hermione became slightly afraid. A world where Malfoy was able to sit next to her in a classroom and quietly do his work was a world she wasn't used to. Despite her Sorting into Gryffindor, she never had the courage to befriend him. Interactions with him had been minimal, and this conversation was the most personal they'd ever been.

When she was in the lift, she realized something else. Malfoy had willingly touched Hermione's hand. He had initiated it, in fact. This added a whole new level of confusion to Hermione's already convoluted thoughts. By the time she was standing in front of Niva's desk, she had stuffed thoughts about the interaction down like she did with everything that was an unnecessary emotional burden.

"Hello Hermione! You came at the perfect time," Niva said, putting her quill down and grabbing the wand laying on a stack of newspapers. The people in the moving pictures clambered to the center of the photos. Niva used her wand to place a charm on her desk that informed anyone who would approach that she would be back within the hour. It was in the form of a floating marquee hovering above her desk plaque. Hermione thought this piece of magic was actually quite clever, and Niva had even added her own personal flair in that it was gold colored.

"Hello. I'm quite hungry. Where do you want to go?" Hermione asked.

"We're going to go to the Leaky Cauldron, I hear there's a new item on the menu and I'd like to try it." said Niva, grabbing Hermione's arm and pulling her quickly towards a Floo.

Hermione surprisingly had a very enjoyable lunch hour with Niva. In their conversations, it became apparent that Niva was much smarter than she appeared. Niva had graduated from Hogwarts several years before Hermione, and had been in Ravenclaw, but beyond telling Hermione this, she didn't seem like she wanted to talk about her past, often perhaps unknowingly hiding behind her wall of smooth black hair.

When they returned to the Ministry, a surprise was waiting at Niva's desk.

"Hello, Genevieve, would you please come into my office as soon as you say goodbye to Miss Granger?" Scrimgeour asked with a polite smile. Hermione's gut reacted to his presence in an unpleasant way.

Niva smiled and said goodbye without seeming uncomfortable and quickly informed "Rufus" that she would be right there.

The next day Hermione was in the reference library in the Department of Mysteries. She recognized someone who worked on her floor and tried to start a conversation but it strangely went the same way as getting information from Niva had gone. She didn't understand why it was so difficult for her to make friends in the few weeks she had worked at the Ministry.

And a few days later, she had been in the lift with an older woman and Scrimgeour, but when Hermione tried to make a joke about him being so uptight lately, the woman just looked at her as though she were moldy wallpaper and didn't respond. When Hermione mentioned this incident to Niva at lunch one day, trying to figure it out, Niva quickly chalked it up to Hermione just being new and reminded her that the war was over after all.

Yet, another week went by, and Hermione had no more success at any new friendships. Rather than continuing to brood about it, however, she threw herself into her work. She had gone to visit Ginny again over the weekend and it had helped her growing feelings of pain, reminiscent of her first year at Hogwarts when she had had no friends. Without Harry and Ron at work, things seemed more difficult. Having only been a student the entirety of her life, the adjustment to becoming a full time Ministry employee was a challenge.

She really wished Harry and Ron would come back soon. They still had not sent her any word, meaning they were still in a remote location. She didn't want to risk exposing them by sending them an owl, and they probably couldn't be found at the moment anyway. Hermione also wondered how well of an office mate Barclay would be when he returned.

It had been almost a month since she got her new job yet the nagging feelings about Scrimgeour and her feelings of loneliness continued to plague her. It was one of the few times when she found that she could not distract herself with work. Rather than doing what she was supposed to be doing, Hermione now occupied her time with watching Scrimgeour. She mentally kept track of where she passed by him in the Ministry and who he talked to.

The day before her one month mark at her new job, Hermione was sitting at a table in the reference library reading up on the properties of birch wood again, trying in vain to catch up on the work she had been neglecting for a week.

_Magickal Properties_

_The Birch wand is used in many cleansing rituals and the Birch Tree is a symbol of rebirth, renewal, and diligence. Some use wood of a birch tree to aid in the calming of emotions, especially- _

She was interrupted by the sound of someone dropping a book a few rows behind her. This was nothing that was typically out of place. A few minutes went by while Hermione went back to reading where she left off.

_The bark of the Birch tree helps-_

She was interrupted again. What was out of place this time was the wand tip suddenly pressed to her neck and the gut feeling that they were alone. And she knew exactly who it was.


	3. Three

**A/N: I have gone through and updated the chapters and added song inspiration in Two. Enjoy reading about JK Rowling's characters placed in my story!**

**Three.**

It was very unlike Hermione to just resign herself to something. This thought drifted across her mind as she was walking out of the elevator towards her office. It was her one month anniversary of working for the Ministry.

Hermione shook her head, feeling suddenly as if she was waking up from a nap. It was a strange feeling, because she hadn't felt fuzzy or different at all before she got to work. It was like the feeling when she would wake up from a very real dream, and the nagging reality was like a physical pulling sensation in her mind.

She tried to think of what she could have done differently that morning to make her feel so oddly, but her mind felt like it was clogged, and she couldn't remember clearly what she was trying to think of. Hermione stopped a few feet from her office door, unable to shake the feeling, deciding to maybe actually ask Niva about that Pepper-Up potion. That reminded her of a strange thing that had happened that morning, seeing Malfoy talking to Niva at her desk. She wondered if he was still the womanizer he had been when he was younger.

She put her head in her hands and rubbed her temples. Surprisingly, the feeling was beginning to dissipate. When the feeling was just barely lingering, she looked up and started to walk towards her door again. She had the door opened and one foot inside when she noticed quick movement to her left.

Turning her head, she saw Scrimgeour closing the door to Malfoy's office behind him discreetly, and walking away. Something seemed out of place. Again she distinctly felt that nagging pull on her mind, realizing it hadn't fully been gone. Her suspicions grew, but not of Scrimgeour, but of Malfoy. Malfoy? Suddenly, the pulling sensation stopped.

Hermione wondered what Scrimgeour was doing in Malfoy's office. Why had he walked away so quickly? Was Malfoy involved in something?

That day Hermione made plans to try and follow Malfoy the next time he left his office. Whether she was neglecting her job or not, Hermione wanted to get to the bottom of this suspicious activity around the office, and she had a feeling that Malfoy had something to do with it, especially now that she had seen Scrimgeour coming out of Malfoy's office so discreetly.

Her first stop was to ask Niva what Malfoy had said to her that morning. Hermione did feel a strange disappointment when Niva told her Malfoy had only been flirting with her. On her way to the Department of Mysteries again, however, she spotted Malfoy. She followed him, getting out on another floor of their department. It was difficult to blend in with all the black tile everywhere on this floor. Without thinking, she followed closely in his footsteps, deciding on a new plan of action without thinking about logistics for once.

"Malfoy." she said clearly. He turned sharply, a look of confusion on his face.

She was slowly walking up to his frozen figure. Up close, his eyes were narrowed, and she could see the tips of his blonde lashes skimming his furrowed eyebrows.

Hermione stumbled for words. She couldn't believe she was doing this. But in that moment, she began to doubt something she couldn't put her finger on.

"How's your head, Granger?" he asked. Hermione noticed his facial expression changing. She wished she knew him better so she could know what he might be thinking.

"It's fine." Hermione said, not knowing where this was coming from, "I saw Scrimgeour came to your office today. What did you talk about?" She was not as confident as she had been coming down here. The strange feeling was there again in her head, now accompanied by a growing pressure. Fighting the new found pounding in her temples, she was finding it more and more difficult to concentrate.

"Are you doing something to me?" she asked, the pounding getting much louder. Her own voice sounded muddled and far away. Malfoy's voice seemed to also be getting farther and quieter, despite being able to see him in front of her. She pressed her eyes shut, hoping for a moment of clarity, but the harder she tried to think, the worse the pain became.

She grabbed the sides of her head in an effort to make the pain ebb away. Slowly she was losing consciousness and she was no longer aware of what Malfoy was saying. The black tile seemed to be swirling like smoke in front of her eyes.

Malfoy's face, like a white center in the midst of the darkness of her surroundings, was the only thing she could hold onto as her world twisted and convoluted in her eyes. The last swirl of darkness before she fell was blotted and she couldn't tell whether it was the bright light she saw, or if it was Malfoy, when her consciousness finally faded away.

* * *

First there was sound. She always noticed she was awake before she opened her eyes, because there usually was some sound that woke her up. She lay there still with her eyes closed, trying to remember where she was.

When she opened her eyes, she was not looking at her familiar bedroom, nor did she feel like she normally would upon awakening. Her eyes awarded her a vision of washed out wooden arches, light brown with dark specks in the many boards. She saw particles floating in the air above her, as sunlight gently lay across her body from a window somewhere near.

She was slow waking up. Like sometimes waking up from a very real dream, she felt as though her body wouldn't listen to her commands, so she lay there for a few more minutes, just observing the rays of light on the ceiling.

When she finally got around to moving her limbs, she felt stiff, as if her body was not used to movement. It was alarming that she was still so groggy, but somehow calm and rested.

She finally got to moving her torso. When she sat up all the blood rushed to her head, as if she had been laying there too long, and she was awarded with an empty throbbing in her stomach. She didn't know where she was or the last time she had eaten. A stab of fear pierced through her fogginess, making her more alert.

Feeling around her, she was laying on a smooth warm surface. She looked down and realized it was a couch, and it was warm from her body heat. She was facing a wall, made of the same wooden materials as the ceiling, and she realized her back was to the room. She looked behind her slowly, and she finally saw where she was, and who she was with.

"She's awake," she heard him say with another small stab of panic, but strangely with some feeling of relief.

Malfoy was sitting at a table behind her, writing notes down with a quill. He hadn't had stopped writing to speak when he heard her moving on the couch. It took her a moment to realize he had only been speaking to her, they were alone.

She didn't respond. Looking around, she saw a scantily furnished though sturdy looking interior of a small house. There was one large room with the couch she was on and the table where Malfoy was sitting. She guessed there was a kitchen around the corner she couldn't see.

There was a door she assumed to be the front door through a small hall behind Malfoy. She had never been here before. She realized the fear she had felt was only due to her unfamiliar surroundings. She somehow didn't feel afraid of being alone with Malfoy.

She opened her mouth to speak but found her lips were chapped and her throat dry.

"Is there any water?" was the first thing she said. Her voice sounded creaky.

Malfoy kept writing for a few more seconds, then stopped. He got up, grabbing something from the kitchen and came over to the couch. He brusquely handed her a cup and performed the Aguamenti spell in front of her so she could see. She quickly drank all of it. He was still standing there looking at her with an unreadable expression.

"Thanks." she said, wiping her mouth off with her sleeve. Hermione imagined he was inwardly disgusted by her manners but Malfoy made no indication of it.

"If I give you your wand back, will you stop being suspicious of me?" he asked with no inflection.

"Should I be suspicious of you?" she said.

"Do you remember what happened before coming here?" he asked, still standing in the same spot, but holding something behind his back that she hadn't noticed until now.

"No, I feel like I've been asleep for days. I don't even remember coming here." she said.

She was caught off guard when he then pulled his hand from behind him and in it was her wand. It was outstretched in a way so that she could grab the base.

She quickly reached out and took it, suddenly feeling much better as her magic thrummed within her.

Malfoy watched her for a moment and then went back to writing more things down at the table.

She stood up and stretched. There was only one other chair across from him so she sat down at the table and put the cup down.

"Can you please explain to me what's going on?" she said, trying to read his notes upside down. She did not want to feel helpless with only Malfoy here as company.

"We need to talk," he said.

"I know." She was rubbing her face to help her completely wake up. "What are you writing down?"

He stopped finally and put the quill down, then looked at her.

"I'm writing down what happened yesterday. Do you remember much about it?" He was staring intensely at her.

"I was at work."

"Is that the last thing you remember?" he asked, picking up his quill to write down more notes. What was with the notes? It was starting to feel like an interrogation.

"Yes. Where are we?" she asked.

"Right now I need to know about yesterday. Do you feel strange in any way?" he asked slowly. She couldn't read his face once again.

"Other than being here alone with you, without knowing how I got here, not really," she said, now sounding disgruntled.

He raised one corner of his mouth so subtly, it almost went unnoticed by Hermione. He looked to the cup she had placed on the table. "You seem to trust me."

She realized what he was implying, "I guess I do." She folded her arms across her chest, feeling suddenly more vulnerable than before.

He seemed to swallow uncomfortably. "We're in a safe house in the mountains. It's obviously not fully ready to be a safe house yet. I didn't think it would be needed so soon." He looked at her probably to test her reaction.

Many questions rose to her lips at that, but she decided to hear him out first.

He continued. "I wasn't implying that you shouldn't trust me, just that I'm surprised. Only yesterday you followed and confronted me."

She was confused, her memories of the previous day did not include a questioning of the man in front of her. "Are you making that up?" she asked.

"Why would I make that up?" he answered.

Her hands were clasped in front of her on her lap, and she fiddled with her thumb as she tried to recall the previous day again. "I don't know. Why can't I remember?"

"That's my question."

"Well, why don't you write down on your little notes there that I also have that question," she paused, seeing his reaction. Again, the corner of his mouth twitched, as if he couldn't control the smile his mouth wanted to make, though he did write something in his notes. "Also, why are we here and not at the Ministry, and why did you need to make a safe house in the first place?"

"That's a lot of questions."

"There's a lot that doesn't make sense right now." she retorted.

He ran his hand through his hair, looking out the tiny window that showed it was growing dark outside. He seemed unsure for a moment, then collected himself. She noticed he still never let himself appear out of control. "Would you like to have some food before we have this conversation?" he asked, now looking at her again with his intense gaze. She wondered what he was thinking.

She was getting slightly hungry, but didn't know if she wanted to trust Malfoy so completely. She felt out of control in the situation but realized she wanted answers badly. Malfoy didn't seem malicious, in fact, he had given her water, her wand, had spoken to her respectfully, and didn't act like he was holding her hostage. She realized she really did trust him, if only barely. Perhaps it was because she had realized over the past year that he really was different. He was a changed person. She didn't think in either of their entire lives they had even held this long of a conversation without her not knowing how to react to him.

She took a leap of faith. "Yes. Is there food here?"

* * *

Hermione and Malfoy were both sitting on the comfortable black couch. They were eating some food Malfoy had found in the kitchen. There were a few papers in between them, and Hermione had charmed the quill to write down what they said. She was nervously twisting an end of a strand of her hair as she thought out loud, while Malfoy seemed to be staring at a spot on the wall.

"Why don't we start by you telling me why you think you needed to make a safe house in the first place." Hermione offered. The quill suddenly stood upright and ready to go.

Malfoy slowly started speaking, still staring at the spot on the wall. "When my family won the trial I thought things would go badly because the public hated my family even more. I thought the Ministry might reconsider the case because of the negativity surrounding the decision. I thought we might need a place to stay if something went wrong."

Hermione didn't think she had ever heard Malfoy speak for so long without an insulting comment towards her.

Malfoy stopped for a moment, and Hermione thought he was done explaining but he went on. "Then Scrimgeour came back in November. It's curious. Everybody just accepted that since the war was over, everyone must be telling the truth. The Minister practically brought him back with open arms. As if the Ministry learned nothing after the war." Malfoy stopped to pinch the bridge of his nose, as if to stifle his annoyance. Or perhaps he was remembering the awful hug he had once received from Voldemort himself.

"I think maybe they were just tired of being suspicious. After all the deaths, maybe they just wanted to believe him. It was easier than dealing with more Dark things." Hermione said quietly.

Malfoy looked away finally from the wall and turned his gaze to Hermione's profile. "You are very compassionate." Malfoy said simply, looking away again. Hermione could not tell if it was intended as a compliment or an insult so she said nothing.

After a few heartbeats Hermione asked another question. "So where are we?"

Malfoy sighed and took a bite of food before answering. Perhaps it was tiring him to have to remain civil around her. This was such an odd situation and she herself didn't know exactly how to act, but at the moment he held the cards. He had all the information she wanted.

Malfoy continued, "We're pretty close to Hogwarts actually. I didn't want to be far, just far enough."

"When was it built?" Hermione asked, genuinely interested.

"I had this place built before we graduated from Hogwarts. I stocked up on some food but not much. Things died down, it's like people have gotten too comfortable again."

"I know what you mean," she responded.

"I was suspicious of Scrimgeour's story when I started working for the Ministry. He may sense it." Malfoy was getting quieter.

"Scrimgeour knew Harry and Ron and I never liked him but I think he knows I don't trust him either," Hermione realized after she spoke that it may have been too soon in their quasi-getting-along-ship to bring up two men Malfoy probably still hated. As expected, Malfoy seemed uncomfortable and didn't respond.

Hermione cleared her throat after taking a few more bites of food and started talking again. "I would like to know why we needed to come here."

"You followed me, confronted me, and accused me of attacking you," he said dryly, seeming irritated, "Then passed out."

This made Hermione's mouth dry. She had no recollection of these events. Was Malfoy really telling the truth?

Malfoy sighed as if knowing her thoughts and bitingly snapped, "I can go get a Pensieve to prove it really happened but it would be a huge waste of time."

There it was. The Malfoy she knew. Suddenly the world felt right again. Becoming irritated herself, Hermione quickly lashed out, "You don't have any right to be annoyed at me right now. I am the one with missing memory and I don't think either of is surprised that I don't completely trust you."

She was too angry to sit down any longer so she got up and began to pace the room.

Malfoy let out something like a low growl and Hermione almost laughed at the absurdity of the entire situation. She felt like she was going crazy. The war was over. She should not be having a conversation with Malfoy in a safe house about her missing memory and their mutual suspicion of the Ministry.

After pacing for several minutes and taking deep breaths through her celestial nose, she felt her anger slowly fade away to make room for her throbbing heart. That future, that normal future she had seen for herself was seemingly in danger. She hated that and the black corner of her heart where all her fear and grief resided was pulsing and threatening to overcome her. Pressure was building in back of her eyes and she clung like a leaf to her last semblances of control so as to not burst out in tears.

After a few deep breaths, Hermione looked for the front door. She wanted to be at home in her bed with Crookshanks warming up her feet. She did not want to be here with Malfoy in this unfamiliar place. She wanted the little bit of normalcy she had gained after the war to remain. She did not want to obsess about Scrimgeour or think about her memory loss anymore. She could definitely see the allure to just accepting Scrimgeour's story at face value. After the emotional toll of the war it would be so much easier to just go numb and be ignorant.

When she took a few steps out of the room she heard rather than saw Malfoy get up off the couch. She didn't look at his face when he asked her where she was going nor when she answered that she wanted to take a walk.

When Malfoy didn't show her a direction she simply walked forward. Malfoy tried to make a move to stop her but she didn't allow him to touch her arm. She heard Malfoy say, "You can't go out yet, I haven't extended the wards beyond the house."

Sighing heavily, Hermione turned around and plopped back down on the couch. Being upset did not mean she should be unreasonable. Malfoy sat down again next to her. They both sat there in tense silence for a while.

Finally, Malfoy was the first one to speak again.

"Well I think you know the events really did happen."

Hermione realized that for the time being that was most likely the only apology she was going to receive. She simply nodded dejectedly.

"I'm going to tell you my theory."

"Sure," was all she said.

It was obvious Malfoy didn't know how to deal with emotions, much less Hermione's emotions. Hermione quietly snorted.

Rather than reacting angrily Malfoy simply glared and started talking. "I think Scrimgeour cast the Imperius on you."

The lure of figuring out a problem pulled her from the depth of emotion she didn't want to feel.

"Well, you might be right." Hermione spoke quietly. "That would explain a lot of things."

Malfoy responded in turn, less uncomfortable now that Hermione seemed to be pulling herself together. "Yes, I thought so when I thought of it," Malfoy added sardonically.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes in annoyance. To her it was much easier and familiar acting this way with him than acting civil. It felt normal. "Well, I don't know how you can extend the theory beyond that. The only question now is: why?"

"It must have had something to do with me. You specifically came to talk to me," Malfoy said, checking the parchment to make sure it was still writing everything down. She noticed him snort a little when he came to the middle of the page. He must have been rereading their argument.

"What exactly did I say to you when I saw you?" Hermione hated the feeling of not knowing what she had said or done. The unknown was her greatest source of fear.

"I was on my way to the reference library when you called my name then asked something about what Scrimgeour said to me in my office."

"That doesn't sound very confrontational." Hermione said dryly.

"It was the way you said it. It was obvious there were implications behind it..." Malfoy rolled his eyes this time, running his hand through his hair.

"Well then what happened?" Hermione asked, trying not to look at him.

"I guess you started feeling something happening to you because you asked me what I was doing to you." Malfoy replied. He sounded slightly defensive.

"Happening to me how?" Hermione was too intrigued by the new information to completely notice Malfoy's subtle nuances.

"Your head. You started grabbing it and losing consciousness." Malfoy said quietly. Touching his chin much like the day they shook hands outside their offices, Malfoy seemed to think out loud, "I have another theory related to that but it's a whole other story."

"Well the Imperius affects the mind," she said.

"Exactly."

"So it's not surprising," she continued.

"Yes. After that you didn't talk anymore, you passed out and then I Apparated us here," Malfoy finished the story.

"Interesting," Hermione thought for a few moments, "How long was I unconscious?"

"Well it's mid-morning the next day..." Malfoy said with what she thought was a tinge of annoyance. She wondered if he was annoyed that he'd had to make sure she didn't die on the couch for a whole day. It was the longest they had ever been in each others presence. Personally Hermione was glad she had been unconscious for the majority of it.

"So a long time. Maybe 24 hours," she said.

They both stopped talking at that point, lost in their own thoughts and theories about what could be happening.

After a certain amount of time of not talking the quill and paper dropped out of the air beside them, startling them both out of their thoughts.

Stretching, Hermione got up to explore the rest of the house. She had been there about an hour and had experienced a mental onslaught in a short period of time.

She went past the table where they were sitting earlier, and found indeed a small kitchen was found just around the corner. There wasn't much there, like she expected, so she continued to the hallway she had seen from the couch. She found the hallway led to more doors, including what she assumed to be the front door. The cabin was bigger then she expected. There weren't very many windows, so there was less light on the new side she was exploring. She opened one of the doors that was down the hallway a little further and found the bathroom. The next door revealed a small bedroom. She saw a small bed and a dresser. She walked a little further into the bedroom and saw another door. Her hand was on the next doorknob when she heard Malfoy's voice from close behind her.

"That's just a closet in there."

She turned around to look at him and removed her hand from the knob. She walked back towards the bedroom and voiced her thoughts, "I'd like to go home now."

"It's probably safe for you to go." They walked together to the kitchen. "But I think we should meet again before going back to work Monday. We have no idea what could happen after this."

"Right. Well, owl me then," Hermione said. She was looking forward to the comfort of her normal surroundings. She walked toward the front door and asked, "Is it possible to Apparate from inside?"

"Yes," he said simply, and walked away back down the hallway without really saying goodbye.

She immediately Apparated into her flat, her head spinning long after she arrived at home.


	4. Four

******AN: *shy wave* Nice to meet you, readers! I want to apologize for sporadic updates, it's finals for me for the next month -_- Enjoy!**

**Four.**

After dinner on Sunday, Hermione was still at her kitchen table, writing her own notes about the current events. She had just realized in order to Apparate them to his safe house, Malfoy had had to touch her again. It was strange for her to think of Malfoy bringing himself to do that twice in two weeks.

Holding her quill still for a moment to take a sip from her teacup, she was surprised to find the tea had gone cold. Sighing, she just Vanished the rest of the contents and grabbed the parchment and her quill, taking them to her bedroom where she had placed her small bag that she used for work. After stuffing them inside, she impatiently grabbed the bag and a coat and Apparated to the Burrow.

She arrived in front of the house, her curly hair blowing about in the wind of the open space surrounding the Burrow. The sun was low in the sky, creating beautiful swirls of light yellow and blue. Immediately walking quickly inside, she noticed everyone already sitting at the table eating. Four pairs of eyes turned to look at her walk through the door.

"I'm sorry! I should have Owled first." Hermione said contritely, stopping the momentum that had been building up inside her confused head.

Molly Weasley shushed her, and simply Summoned another chair at the table, "Please, Hermione, as if you need to announce a visit. Sit down with us. Have you eaten yet?" she said, and continued eating.

Hermione nodded, and more slowly walked towards the chair and sat down. Ginny and Teddy were on her right, Ginny in the middle of feeding Teddy a scoop of something. Ginny turned and gave Hermione a smile, putting Teddy's spoon down and wrapping Hermione in a quick hug. Teddy kicked his little arms and feet in excitement, smiling and pointing at Hermione.

Hermione instantly felt calmed and let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She smiled back at him, and noticed the involuntary facial expression Ginny had on her face watching Teddy interact. Hermione felt a small twinge of a feeling she couldn't recognize at the love shown on Ginny's face. Teddy wasn't Ginny's son, but she loved him and cared for him as if he were. Hermione realized once again how hard it must be for Ginny, helping to raise Teddy while Harry was gone, and being at Hogwarts without Harry or Ron. It had brought both of them closer. Hermione knew that Ginny had returned home and had been taking care of Teddy more since they had graduated from Hogwarts the previous month.

When Hermione looked up, Molly and Arthur were looking at her with some emotion on their faces that she didn't want to think about. It reminded her of her own parents.

Putting her bag down beside her, Hermione decided to wait until after dinner to burden them with her thoughts. Then a different thought came to her. "Mr. Weasley, how much time do you spend in the Ministry these days?" she asked him.

He finished chewing, took a sip from his cup and answered, "Just about once a week, lately I've been here more. Why do you ask?"

Hermione considered what that could mean. If Arthur had been at the Ministry enough while Scrimgeour was there, would he have noticed anything about Scrimgeour? Suddenly she didn't know if telling Molly and Arthur was a good idea.

"Just wondering," Hermione responded.

Hermione's mind was whirling again. If Scrimgeour had cast that spell on Hermione, what was to say Scrimgeour hadn't cast an Imperius on any other Ministry employee? She suddenly grasped the reality of the situation. This was bigger than she and Malfoy had considered. If she and Malfoy were correct, then there was going to be a lot of work ahead of them. ___What on earth is going on? _Hermione wondered, growing more and more concerned. She was so exhausted. She had really thought a normal life might be ahead. Well, as normal as a witch's life could be.

She sat through the rest of dinner with the Weasleys, making polite conversation, but Hermione knew they were wondering why she had come over so abruptly. She could tell they were worried but didn't want to push her. Hermione was grateful, but she knew she needed more time to think about this before talking about it with Ginny's parents. How strange, trusting Malfoy with something rather than Arthur and Molly.

"Have you heard from Harry or Ron lately?" Hermione asked quickly to avoid the thought.

Ginny sighed and she knew the knew the answer was no.

Molly was shaking her head with a sad look, and said, "No, we haven't. And here we were thinking everything would be back to normal when the war ended."

Hermione almost cringed at Molly's statement, Mrs. Weasley had no idea the truth of what she had said.

When dinner was finished, Hermione helped clear everything away, though she hadn't eaten. The rest of the night Hermione watched Mr. Weasley closely. She didn't explicitly notice him acting any differently now that she was paying attention. She and Ginny played with Teddy while Ginny told Hermione about her week. Ginny seemed torn between looking for work right away and raising Teddy. Hermione comforted her with the idea that Ginny still had at least the rest of the summer to think about it. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were not going to threaten Ginny to move out any time soon Hermione knew. While Hermione and Ginny had been hugging goodbye, Hermione whispered in Ginny's ear that she should come to her flat as soon as she could.

By the time she arrived at the safe house to meet Malfoy, it was almost eight. He had Owled her earlier that morning, informing her of when and how to meet with him. It was like Grimmauld Place, and she'd had to Apparate to the property, since the last time she'd been there she was unconscious upon arrival. Landing in a small clearing surrounded ironically by birch trees, she vaguely noticed the outline of slopes in the distance, white tree trunks sloping higher and higher at an angle.

It was still summer, not yet cold, but it felt less warm than it had at the Burrow. Wrapping her sweater around herself tightly, she figured the cabin must be pretty high in the mountain range for such a change in temperature. She contemplated using the birch trees around her in some experiments for her work.

Walking up to the front door, leaves crunching softly under her boots, Hermione observed the exterior of the cabin. Taller than she expected, the slim structure must have had a charm on it much like the charm on her beaded bag. She wondered briefly if that last door she hadn't opened in the bedroom was really a closet or if it led to more rooms. Knocking lightly on the door three times, she stepped back, suddenly realizing how strange the situation was. She wrapped her sweater around herself tightly again.

Malfoy quickly opened the door, signaling she should come inside by nodding. As he shut the door behind her she heard him ask, "Did you have any problems getting here?" She shook her head. It was much warmer inside, but she didn't feel comfortable taking her sweater off.

Walking past her where she stood in the awning, Malfoy sat down at a new table that hadn't been there yesterday.

Looking around, she noticed there was also other new furniture, including a kitchen cauldron and dishes.

She sat down opposite him where she noticed his notes already lay sprawled everywhere. She took hers out of her bag in a neat pile in front of her.

He took a deep breath and she looked at him.

"So, Granger, here we go again."

She gulped nervously. "Yes, here we go." She was suddenly apprehensive. She could ignore all this and still have that normalcy she so desired. But she realized that she could never live in the midst of a mystery and feign ignorance. Her curiosity was both a bane and a blessing.

As if noticing her hesitation, Malfoy started talking.

"I don't know what to expect tomorrow. I hope Scrimgeour wasn't keeping tabs on you Friday."

She sighed, truly resigning herself to the fact that she couldn't just pretend nothing had happened. "I don't know either. I'm not comfortable with the fact that I have memory loss too," she told him.

"We don't even know if Scrimgeour is the only one in on this. The only grounds for suspicion we have for Scrimgeour is his shady story and the incident Friday. I don't know what to think about any of this. I think we've come across something a lot bigger than we realized."

Hermione agreed, telling him about her thoughts while at the Weasleys.

Malfoy, as expected, stiffened at the mention of the Weasleys, but didn't give anything away in his facial expression. He nodded, "And we still haven't covered the biggest question of why this all might be happening. That can only be answered by Scrimgeour."

"Or by finding out what happened to him in the war," Hermione sighed again, silently looking over her notes. "I wish this wasn't real," she quietly said.

Surprisingly, Malfoy responded with, "I know."

The rest of the night went by quickly.

They decided Niva could be a source of information as she was closest to Scrimgeour at the moment.

Two hours later there were still sitting at the table.

"Did I mention I think the spell he used was a modified Imperius? Your eyes were perfectly clear," Malfoy said to Hermione.

Hermione's head spun but she used the growing confusion to drive her.

Another half hour went by.

"I wonder if the spell Scrimgeour could have used on me wore off because I lost consciousness or I lost consciousness because it was wearing off, or something else entirely..." Hermione thought out loud.

"I wonder about that too. Maybe range had something to do with it..maybe not. You obviously saw him near my office however so he was in close range at some point."

"I wish we knew what exact spell it was so there might be some way we could protect ourselves if he casts it again," Hermione said, rubbing her eyes. "This feels very strange to me. To trust you. I suppose I already do."

Malfoy simply nodded and looked out the kitchen window. She couldn't read his expression once again.

She didn't say anything again for a long time. She stared down at the table. Hermione stuck her fingernail in one of the grooves in the wood.

The unspoken answers she wanted seemed to float in between them. She wondered if he would ever tell her his past, but she was too afraid to ask the way things were. She suddenly yawned, breaking the tense moment.

"We should go home. We have a big day tomorrow," Malfoy said looking up at her. She noticed his normally alert eyes did look tired.

Hermione gathered her papers and put them back in her bag.

Malfoy stood up when she got up to leave, but walked past her towards the door she recognized as leading to the bedroom.

She didn't know why she was a little disappointed. Disappointed at what? That they didn't say goodbye? She reckoned she felt that way since Malfoy had gone and invaded her little personal bubble with that handshake two weeks ago. Shaking her head to clear her lingering thoughts of Malfoy and pleasantries, she Apparated back to her flat.

When she landed in her awning she let out a big sigh. She really was exhausted. Thinking her adventurous mystery solving days were behind her, she went to her bedroom wanting to write a letter to Harry or Ron. Realizing again that they weren't available, she slumped down onto her bed, laying down on her back, looking up at her ceiling. The dark brown boards were very different than those of the safe house. She turned her head to the left to look out her window. The sun had finally set, and the night sky was a mixture of navy blue and gray. Her curtains were fluttering slightly from a cool breeze through a small opening in the window.

Lazily shutting her eyes, she tried to relax before going to bed. She was expecting the next day to be very stressful indeed.

Jerking awake the next morning of her own volition, she realized her body had woken her up early due to nerves. It was light in her room already as she got ready to go. Crookshanks was watching her lazily from the foot of her bed where he had slept. She looked at him and smiled, walking over to scratch him between the ears.

"I'm sorry I was gone most of the weekend, Crookshanks," she kissed him on the head. He raised his spine to her touch while she continued to pet him.

Sighing and finding herself finally ready to leave, she realized she was procrastinating. Holding her wand tightly she walked out of her bedroom and Apparated to the Ministry.


	5. Five

******A/N: Thanks so much to people who are reviewing! It's very motivational getting feedback . Btdubs, I don't own these peeps but it's fun to use them in my plot :)**

******Also, I apologize for any typos or grammatical errors, I do not have a beta, nor do I know how to find one...any help with that would be appreciated :)**

******BIG NOTE: I went through each chapter and edited, so the beginning chapters have been expanded upon, so I suggest going back and reading from the beginning.**

******Ok, enough talking, back to the story!**

Five.

It had been a week since Hermione and Malfoy had decided to take turns discreetly observing Scrimgeour. Every time one of them wasn't in their office, they were to record where Scrimgeour was and what he seemed to be doing. They had decided that meeting once a week about their findings would be enough. Hermione had already been watching him so it was really a matter of comparing their observations now.

Hermione briskly walked to the lift trying not to attract too much attention to herself, waving her hand at the wizard already inside to hold the door for her. She had just seen Scrimgeour in the Department of Mysteries for the third time that week.

She was on her way to her office to grab her bag and notes and go to the safe house. Lunches with Niva had so far proved unfruitful but Hermione and Malfoy had agreed to meet Fridays so she was obligated to show up. And she was late.

As the door to the lift opened on her department floor, she ran straight for her office, opened the door, and bumped into a hard chest. She bounced off, ending up pressed against the back of the door she had just come through.

She placed a hand on her chest automatically, though it didn't do much to stabilize her suddenly erratic breaths.

"Malfoy?" she asked tentatively, "What are you doing here?" She was alarmed.

He reached out a hand but she was already steady. He seemed to realize what he had done a second later and retracted his hand. "You weren't at the Apparition point at the time we said. Obviously that would be a concern considering..."

"Right right, well I'm here now so we can go." Hermione went to her desk to grab her bag and put her notes in it.

An hour later both of them were sitting at the table in the safe house. Hermione was emotionally exhausted at having to lead a kind of double life. She hated not being able to talk about any of this with anyone but Malfoy.

She had initially planned on telling Ginny, but had the thought that it might be a bad time to mention suspicious Ministry activity if her boyfriend and brother were still gone. Would Ginny truly believe her anyway?

Malfoy remained silent while Hermione got up to pace around the kitchen. He didn't look up at her right away, seeming to be finishing writing down a thought before transferring his attention. Their eyes met, and though his grayish eyes were becoming more familiar to her, the thoughts hidden behind them were still quite as much of a crux to her as the lack of new information they were faced with. She blinked and looked downward, focusing her gaze on something less anxiety causing.

She told Malfoy she was going to go gather some birch bark for some work experiments. She needed the fresh air.

When she came back inside she couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Why did you do it? How could you?" she asked him, pacing in the kitchen.

Malfoy looked up at her. "How could I what?" he asked.

Hermione was now pulling at her hair with her hands on both sides of her head. She couldn't look at him. "Let them in." She was somehow afraid to say it out loud, as if it would make it more real. As if she was there.

Malfoy had put his quill down and seemed to have put on a neutral expression. He didn't answer right away. Hermione stopped pacing but now stood with her hands on the back of the chair, her heart beating fast for another reason. She had not planned on asking Malfoy about that night at Hogwarts, but the stress of the situation she was in was taking its toll.

Rather than wait for an answer, she grabbed her jacket and ran outside again without a word. She let the front door slam and mindlessly ran down the steps and straight forward to the Apparition area she had come from earlier. She kept walking past that, past the trees where she had just spent time collecting samples of the birch bark for her work while she pondered ways to tell Ginny what was going on.

While she walked several things came to mind.

How did things come to this? Why did she feel this way? Why did she so easily distrust the Ministry still when everyone else seemed able to blindly accept everything they said?

Am I crazy? Will Ginny think I am crazy if I mention any of this to her?

How on earth did I end up here with Malfoy of all people?

Why do I believe Malfoy is innocent in his crimes, despite what authorities have said about his actions in the war?

Can I trust anyone?

Hermione stopped walking in the circles she had again begun to walk in as she mentally debated. Covering her face with her hands and taking a deep breath, all she wanted to do was cry. But tears would not come. She would only cry if she felt like there was nothing she could do.

Bending her knees, she slowly sat down on the ground where she was and rested her head in her hands. All around her was a beautiful forest, full of the Scottish birch. There was a chilly wind gently blowing on her cheeks, but it was sobering. The summer sun was trying to reach through the leaves. For a moment she could forget her troubling thoughts as she watched a large speck of something in the air floating in a nearby ray of sun.

The rush of returning thoughts once she refocused was exhausting. Getting up and brushing herself off, she felt better that the course of emotion had run its course. She felt okay again to face the problem at hand.

When she walked back in the door Malfoy said nothing. She put her jacket back down on the table and sat down. Neither of them said anything and neither looked up. The silence was not awkward as both were stuck in their own thoughts.

It was evident that neither of them wanted to go back to war. Secret meetings had no mysterious appeal when the meetings were actually real.

Malfoy surprised Hermione later that night when he stood by the door this time when she left. Neither of them said much, but to Hermione it seemed like a feeble bond had been formed over this possible threat. It was less of a comforting feeling than a feeling of fear, but nonetheless, it was there.

X

The next morning Hermione was in her kitchen in the midst of making a mock potion with the birch bark she'd collected from the cabin. Stirring and referencing a book, Hermione was in her element and not distracted by thoughts of Malfoy's innocence or guilt.

Suddenly she heard her Floo. Putting down her ladle to go see who it was, she was saved by Ginny's yell of, "Just me."

Shortly after, Ginny appeared in the kitchen, sitting herself down next to Hermione. "Hello old friend, long time no see," she said gently.

Hermione felt an intense rush of comfort. "Hi Ginny. Hold on, let me finish this." she replied while Ginny watched Hermione work.

Ginny seemed patient and impatient at the same time. As Ginny got up to pace while Hermione finished, Hermione realized the impatience she perceived was more likely concern.

True to her guess, Ginny spoke up before she was done. "My parents and I have been worried about you after the last time you came over." Hermione noticed she was wringing her fingers. "Is there something you know about Harry and Ron that we don't?" she asked.

Hermione, almost guiltily, felt a bit of relief that this was Ginny's question, not something else. Bottling the potion, Hermione replied, "No, I've heard the same as you. I'm sorry if I worried you."

Ginny sat back down and looked solemnly at Hermione, "Is everything okay?"

Hermione couldn't help but feel a larger twang of guilt. Touching Ginny's hand she told her, "Yes, everything's okay. I've just been having a little bit of a hard time adjusting to everything, that's all." Hermione felt the tension in the room dissipate but some of Ginny's worry still remained.

Ginny nodded and stood up to get some tea ready for them both. As Hermione reflected, she realized she probably looked the same way as Ginny did all the time: that worry etched in the permanent furrow of their eyebrows was for the danger Harry and Ron were still in, Ginny's large brown eyes were expressively solemn because Harry had never truly returned, Hermione's anxious habit of rubbing her temple was recently acquired, due to the recent events.

Hermione's reflections gave her a small burst of motivation once more to fight as hard as she possibly could at any more fighting.

As Ginny set the pot to boil she looked out the window and sighed.

"Where's Teddy today?" Hermione asked.

Ginny came and sat down next to Hermione again. "Arthur Weasley is never one to miss out on a chance to spoil his surrogate grandson," she replied, smiling fondly. All of them had been less than surprised at Mr. Weasley's fondness for the young child. He did have seven children of his own.

"How are you? Taking care of Teddy and everything?" Hermione asked, impatiently using a spell to heat the water faster and going to get cups.

Ginny's eyes followed Hermione around the kitchen as they talked, "I'm fine. Taking care of him is teaching me a lot of things about myself I never knew before. I always thought I wanted a small family after having so many brothers, you know?"

Hermione set cups down in front of them as Ginny readjusted in her seat and asked her, "And now?"

Ginny sighed, "I didn't see myself as the motherly type before, to be honest. My mum was just a mum, but I guess I kind of always just kind of looked at it like it was a bad thing. Now I see things differently I guess."

Hermione was surprised. This was not something she expected from Ginny either. "Well what else do you think you'd like to do in your lifetime?" she asked.

"Be a good role model, or a strong woman," Ginny said.

"I already think you are. Well you can find a career where you can be those things, definitely! " Hermione said, trying to be encouraging.

Hermione saw Ginny's face close off. Ginny half smiled and changed the topic, "Yeah, maybe."

Hermione's smile faltered, perhaps her pragmatism wasn't always what people needed to hear.

As they chatted more, Hermione's urge to say something to Ginny about the events with Malfoy grew, but she didn't know how to bring it up.

How could she even bring up the topic of Malfoy? Ginny hadn't seen him since their graduation ceremony, and Hermione didn't recall even telling her that she worked in the same department as him. She decided to start there.

"Malfoy works in my department at the Ministry now, did I ever tell you?" Hermione mentioned as she was cleaning and putting away their dishes.

Ginny slowly turned around and gave Hermione an eyebrow raise.

Hermione sat back down and rested her head on her hand, "It's just a fact. That's all."

Ginny gave Hermione a quizzical look and replied, "I'm sure it is." Ginny looked away and stretched her arms, she had been there for a quite a while and it was now lunch time.

"I'm glad we talked," she said, smiling affectionately and getting ready to go. She got up and hugged Hermione tightly, "You know I love you." Hermione laughed and again felt the warmth and comfort that Ginny often brought to everyone. "I love you too," she said.

Hermione walked her to the Floo and heard Ginny say, "Don't be a stranger!" as she was whisked away.

Hermione stood there for a few moments and sighed, then plopped on the couch. She was suddenly exhausted. Trying not to tell Ginny had taken tremendous effort, and Hermione's mention of Malfoy didn't get much of a reaction from Ginny. But it was a start, she reminded herself.

Getting up again, Hermione got back to working on the potion. Looking at her book in Magickal Properties she read:

___The Birch wand is used in many cleansing rituals and the Birch Tree is a symbol of rebirth, renewal, and diligence. Some use wood of a birch tree to aid in the calming of emotions, especially negative emotions. The bark of the Birch tree helps to heal wounds of many types._

Hermione scanned to another section:

___Planting a Birch tree at the front entrance of property will provide protection and repel evil influences and spirits._

Hermione unconsciously laughed. Whether Malfoy knew it or not, he had literally placed the safe house in very safe place. The forest of birches surrounding the place surely had some protection for the cabin.

She felt a tiny bit of relief. If Malfoy were evil, wouldn't he have been repelled?

She kept reading:

___The Birch tree is controlled by the cycle of the moon, and at different times in the moon cycle, different parts of the Birch tree are most useful for different purposes including: birth, healing, and protection. There is also evidence of witches and wizards using birch twigs and bark in fertility potions for cattle and newlyweds. Cradles made of Birch wood are designed for protection of the child and to prevent fairies from trading the human baby with a changeling._

Hermione stopped reading, realizing how much research she had yet to do. She definitely did not want to test a birch potion without doing the proper research.

X

Later that night Hermione was getting ready for bed when she heard an owl hoot by the window. Opening it up, she watched a beautiful tawny owl gracefully land on the ledge and extend it's leg, showing Hermione the letter it had brought. Taking it gently from his leg, she wondered why it didn't wait for her to give it something and just flew off into the night sky.

Closing her window and turning around, she sat on her bed and opened the letter.

She read:

___Hermione,_

___My intelligent, nuanced, intellectual...saw today, resting yonder, wonderful apples tantalizing charms haphazardly in ghoulish night_

___Just kidding, my creative writing is not really improving much is it...? I think I'll give it up. Miss you, send love to all!_

___H(&R)_

Hermione walked to her desk and got a piece of paper, writing down the first letter of every word and rearranging it backwards to reveal the real message:

___M-i-n-i-s-t-r-y-w-a-t-c-h-i-n-g_

This was not Harry's most skilled cryptography. He must really have been under pressure to send this to her.

Suddenly she heard a knock at her front door. She felt a stab of fear in her stomach. Quickly whispering___Incendio_, the letter was destroyed, and a quick ___Scourgify_ removed the ashes.

Clutching her wand and casting another protection spell on her front door, she tentatively walked out of her bedroom and called out to ask who it was.

"It's me, Niva!" Hermione heard her muffled voice say. A twinge of fear gripped Hermione. Had the Ministry so easily figured out the code she and Harry had created during their Horcrux hunt? It wasn't that complicated to figure out in reality, but if one wasn't looking for deception, one wouldn't usually find it.

Making a quick decision on intuition, Hermione opened the door to let her in.

Niva was smiling and Hermione could truly sense genuineness. Her gut never failed her in the past. She let her inside with a small smile and a wave and quickly closed the door.

"Sorry if it took me a while to answer the door, I was just getting ready for bed," Hermione said quickly.

Niva had followed her in and went to gently grab Hermione's hands. "No, no, I'm sorry for coming over this late with no notice! I know you must be tired, you've been working really hard lately on this birch wood thing," Niva said, her furrowed eyebrows honestly expressing regret at having disturbed Hermione's routine.

"Nothing to worry about Niva, we're friends!," Hermione smiled and Niva released her. "I have been tired though, I have to confess I'm not much of a morning person..." They both laughed.

"Don't worry, I know all about that, during lunch lately you've seemed kind of distracted." Niva smiled softly. "But anyway, the reason I've so rudely interrupted your night is because I wanted to ask you something, and it's not exactly work friendly."

Hermione was surprised but tried not to show it, but nodded to indicate Niva should continue.

Niva suddenly seemed nervous. It was very out of place for Niva to not be bursting with confidence and energy.

She continued speaking, "Well, what I wanted to ask is your opinion...I want to know if you think asking Malfoy on a date would be like fraternizing with the enemy." Niva looked at Hermione in the eye near the end of her sentence, as if she was scrutinizing Hermione for any emotions she couldn't hide.

Hermione certainly felt a lot of emotions, but being practiced in masking her face, the only one she allowed to show was her surprise. This was the last thing Hermione had expected.

"Well, that depends..." Hermione began.

Niva was still staring at her in what Hermione thought was scrutiny. "On what?" Niva asked.

"Well, on whether or not you think he's innocent," Hermione replied, surprised to find that she herself believed he was. She struggled to keep her facial expression neutral.

Niva shifted her weight to her other foot, seeming to regain some confidence. "Well I don't know what to think...Can you believe the outcome of their trial?" Niva said.

Hermione inwardly squirmed, her gut told her Niva was getting more out of this than she claimed.

"Well, Niva, what I think doesn't matter, I'm not the one planning on asking him on a date," Hermione said. She felt it was too late at night for this.

Niva didn't falter and smiled as she asked "But you must have some sort of opinion about him."

Hermione sighed loudly and crossed her arms. "Well, if you must know, I think that some good and some bad came of the trial sentence."

"Such a diplomat..." Niva huffed.

"What do you really want to know?" Hermione asked.

Niva appeared nervous once more. "I already asked!"

"Well then I already answered! If you're worried about 'fraternizing with the enemy,' it really depends on what you think of Malfoy. And what you define as 'fraternization.'" Hermione quipped.

"Well I asked you because you went to school with him-"Niva began.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"-and now you work in the same department as him," Niva seemed to be getting more and more flustered.

"Yes, and?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrow.

"You have to know something!"

"Well I don't!" Hermione said, a little disturbed that she was really talking about Malfoy at midnight on a Sunday night with Niv. "I really don't. Malfoy and I don't...talk. We tolerate each other. And most of the time we ignore each other."

Niva sighed, seeming resigned. "Well, thanks a lot for...not much, then." She walked out.

Hermione loudly sighed as she heard the slam of the door. She waited for the sound of Apparition. None came. What a strange incident.

Intrigued, Hermione went to her bedroom window overlooking the street and saw nothing. Closing her blinds for the night once more, she suddenly heard the crack but thought nothing of it other than curiosity at Niva's late departure.

She moved to close her bedroom door when another crack resounded.

Checking that her blinds were closed with a quick jerk of her head, her blood seemed to throb loudly in her ears.

What was all this sudden activity so late?

Quickly checking that her wards were secure around her apartment, she was sure she was the only witch in the building she lived in, at least. It was not someone else's visitor.

She walked to the door with aprehension. A thought flitted across her mind at how illogical it was to be afraid in her home when she had wards up that she knew could keep her safe. And fear was not a logical emotion.

She heard a gentle knock as she made her final step toward the door and relief flooded through her. She could hear normally again, the pounding in her ears ceasing. How could she forget?

Quickly wrenching the door open, she grabbed the sleeve of the man standing outside and dragged him in. She quickly closed the door behind them.

The both of them looked at each other for a moment, checking for injury, a habit from worse times, and then rushed into a hug.

Breathing deeply, calmly, Hermione felt the anxiety she had felt during the past few weeks move to the back of her mind. Warm affection took its place, effectively spreading throughout her body, warming what had become cold in fear.

She felt him do the same, and then his breath tickled the hair on top of her head where his nose was pressed against it.

Neither needed to speak to voice the relief they both felt. It permeated the air, making her home feel warmer than it had since she moved in.

"I miss you both," Hermione vocalized, still not letting go.

"I know," the red-haired man breathed into her hair. It was obvious already he felt the same.

Finally letting go, Hermione took a small step backwards to look at Ron, taking in the small changes she observed. He did the same to her.

His thin face told her the most about his living conditions on their mission. He'd not looked so lanky for several years. It was still oddly endearing. As was the flop of hair in his eyes due to a much needed haircut.

It was not until he grinned at her and nodded his head towards her kitchen that she noticed her lips had already formed a smile.

Logically she knew he wouldn't be staying long. The letters she received from Harry and Ron often indicated that one of them might visit, especially ones with messages encoded. She had forgotten about the letter with Niva's strange appearance.

She figured Ron would be there at most two hours so she quickly fixed him a meal. He stood close to her offering help but she couldn't bring herself to make him sit and be farther away from her.

"I like the new place," Ron commented after looking around, now leaning against the counter next to where she was finishing up preparation.

Hermione smiled and expressed her thanks. She offered him the plate of food, and when she looked up they were both smiling again.

He took it and showed her gratitude by kissing her on the cheek.

Hermione felt a spike of affection. The feeling swelled as she observed him devour half the meal before she even sat down. She had learned to love what she knew she could not change.

They were limited on time so she quickly calculated how to tell Ron what was going on while he finished eating.

"I'm glad for the letter, and especially glad to see you," she began. "My new job has given me more stress than a new job should. Even one for the Department of Mysteries..."

Ron nodded to show he was listening and for her to continue while he Scourgified Hermione's plate and fork.

She continued. "I'm going to cut right to the chase. Malfoy and I have had to have several meetings outside of work because of recent events."

She observed Ron's shock in two very highly raised eyebrows but he did not interrupt.

"I fainted under a spell that led me to confront Malfoy and Malfoy and I mutually suspect Scrimgeour. Malfoy suggested that Scrimgeour performed an altered Imperius on me."

Ron's eyes were wide and he reached out to grab her hand. "Bloody hell Hermione, are you alright?" He seemed to be looking her over again to see if he had missed any injuries.

Taking his hand she reassured him. "I'm fine Ron. I am irritated though that I have memory loss from when I was under the spell."

Ron slumped his back against her chair and ran a hand through his hair. "Blimey! I didn't expect to hear that...I guess you weren't surprised then by Harry's message?" he inquired.

"Yes and no. I knew something was up with the Ministry but I'd like to know the context of the message 'Ministry watching'," Hermione responded.

"Right. Well, you actually have more information than us," Ron hesitated for a moment. Hermione knew he could not reveal certain details of their mission which he was not allowed to discuss as per Auror regulation.

He continued, "Somebody we recently encountered said something fishy. Something about a failsafe in the Ministry. This...someone...is not on our 'side,' to use those terms again." Ron sighed, he seemed to be considering what he could tell her without breaking the rules. He seemed to struggle with not telling her everything, knowing she could be invaluable with the information.

Hermione nodded and was lost in thought.

A failsafe. A secondary system to ensure operation of the primary system upon failure.

If this person was who Ron was insinuating, the 'failure' was obviously Harry's defeat of Voldemort—the primary system.

But inside the Ministry...?

The 'failsafe' could be an object, a person, another Horcrux?!

Callused hands touched her face and she almost jumped out of her seat. She relaxed when she realized they belonged to Ron, who was pulling her hands away from her own face where they had been indenting her cheeks with nail marks.

She had not realized how tense she had gotten at the prospect.

"I should be the one acting like that after hearing about you having to spend time with the bouncing ferret alone," Ron joked.

His effort to diffuse the tension was successful. She had wondered when he would comment at her mention of Malfoy.

"Don't worry, Hermione. My days of reckless abandon and bouts of insanity at hearing the name Malfoy ended long ago. Auror training and common sense to trust your judgment cured me of it. Though I still don't have to like him," Ron was smiling affectionately at her, seeming to have read her mind.

Hermione smiled in appreciation for his compliment.

"But still, even though I know you are more than capable at—well pretty much everything—for my own conscience I still have to tell you to be careful."

Hermione laughed and got up to hug Ron again. "For my conscience as well—please be careful. Both of you."

"The words 'constant' and 'vigilance' are always in mind," Ron comforted her. He ran his hands along her back.

They sat back down again and talked for a long time. She told him about what she and Malfoy had discussed while he listened.

When Ron mentioned needing to leave soon she yawned and raised an eyebrow. "So to cap it all off...the message and the visit were for your own selfish interests?" she asked jokingly.

"I can't say I'm not selfish. But it did at least help you confirm some suspicion," Ron replied, a lopsided smile ever present.

She sighed, "Yes, it did. Suspicion I also selfishly wanted to deny. It's been hard to accept that something might be going wrong again with only Malfoy to talk to..." she trailed off, her face revealing the ambivalence she felt.

Ron released her from their hug and held her shoulders at length, "Why can't you talk to Ginny, or my parents?"

Hermione sighed, the loss of contact and his approaching departure already allowing the tendrils of some dark pool of emotion to return. "It's been hard to say. Before your letter I didn't want to worry Ginny over nothing. And we considered that they may have been put under the spell because of your dad."

A flicker of emotion crossed Ron's face—concern for his family he hadn't considered should be there before. His grip on her shoulders became unbearable for a moment. But he released his hold.

The complete loss of contact brought disparaging thoughts of loneliness to the surface. Why was she reacting this way?

She observed the clenching of her stomach, the sudden vice in her throat—the fear.

It was worse now she had some reason to validate it. It actually had merit. She did not know which part was more frightening.

She grabbed Ron for another hug while he apologized for the short visit. He seemed more troubled now. He also felt uncertain about the choice to tell his family or not. His grip was tighter than before when they hugged and while she liked this, she disliked the cause.

This fear, this hold, it was too similar to the desperation she recalled from the past two years. She would rather not repeat it.

The mood of their visit had unexpectedly become quite tense.

"Hermione I think you can trust my family. Trust Ginny. Figure out the signs of the curse though first, maybe. I want you to have someone else to go to other than Malfoy. And I want my family to be safe too," he said, running his hands up and down her arms, probably to comfort himself as well, that she was still safe, still there.

"Of course. I want to protect them as well," Hermione replied.

"We'll be in touch," the lopsided grin made an appearance.

He let go and her stomach dropped as he walked to her door. It was time for him to go.

"Love you both," she said, folding her arms.

"I love you so much Hermione," he said from the door. He looked back and saw her trying not to frown, "Constant vigilance!" he suddenly boomed, causing them both to crack a laugh. At the sight of her smile, he finally closed the door, and she heard him Apparate away.

Still smiling, she turned from the door and went to bed, the dark emotions that had threatened to overwhelm when Ron left held back by the smile he'd managed to put on her face. Thoughts of comfort led her to sleep.

X


End file.
